Box Bottom Boogie

I've missed the last card show or two at my local fire hall and that's kind of a bummer.  On the bright side, though, it gives me a chance to catch up on posts about the loot I scored at shows of recent past that have been otherwise neglected.

Now, one of my favorite things in all the world -- the hobby world, at least -- is a good wax box card.  You know, the cards that card companies printed on the bottoms of the wax boxes way back when.  They're not only tough to track down, but it's tough to find 'em in 'good' condition.  By 'good' I mean not badly miscut or looking like they spent a few spin cycles in the laundry.

So, it was my good fortune to find a handful of dandy Topps and Fleer wax box cards in monster dime box at the table of my favorite seller.  To my pleasant surprise, each with very minor wear (if any) and each carefully cut.

There were a few from '86 Topps, including the Mr. October card you see in the lead-off spot.

Donnie Baseball.  I appreciate how Topps opted to go with red instead of the normal black background for the upper portion of these cards.  Makes 'em stand out from the normal '86es.

And Charlie Hustle himself, Pete Rose.  I really love this one.

Two HOFers and a borderline HOFer for a dime each had me feeling like I was in junk-wax paradise!

But, there's more!

For some reason, Topps decided to print mini-sized cards on the side panels of the 1987 wax boxes rather than full-sized ones on the bottom.  I guess they figured the cards would stand a better chance of surviving if they were on the sides?  Who knows, but I much prefer the full-sized cards, risks and all.

Still, this Rickey Henderson is a nice catch for my collection.

In 1988, Topps got back to the winning formula and once again printed the cards on the bottoms of the boxes. Back to regular size, to boot.  Plus, the cards had a snazzy blue border.  Thus making the above card a blue-bordered Bob Boone.  (Say that three times fast!)

Another Cooperstown resident, the late, great Tony Gwynn.

As stated earlier, the selections weren't limited to just Topps...

How about this great George Brett batting cage shot from 1986?  A minor wrinkle in this one, but otherwise in fantastic shape!

And we finish with a trio from 1990 Fleer, which is my all-time favorite Fleer set...

As much as I despise this man, it's still a cool collectible.  This may eventually wind up in Rhode Island with Shane, who knows.

Another Mattingly, which is always a good thing.  Yes, he's a Yankee, but like Jeter, I have a soft spot for his cardboard.

The great Robin Yount, fresh off his second MVP award, closes out the parade of box-bottom stars.

Every now and again I'll search for box panels or hand-cut cards on eBay.  Normally, however, they're way overpriced and that ends my pursuit.  So, it's nice to occasionally find cards of this sort in random dime boxes.

Anyone else out there a big fan of these things?

MK